The night that I decided to delete my worthless dating app was the same night that Tyler commented on my special skill of "cooking the best scrambled eggs you've ever had!" Many conversations started from this Hinge prompt but with Tyler, the conversation made its way past perfect egg techniques. We texted for days, and I genuinely enjoyed his texting company as I flew around the world. When I made it home from a work trip, he asked me out; and for the first time in years, I actually wanted to go. Before I arrived, he explained that he was too busy with school for anything serious. I said, "that's weird but ok. I'm probably too busy myself. You just better not fall in love with me though." He laughed and said, "Ah the beginning of pretty much every romcom." Date number one: a beer at Yard House, turned into 2 hours of easy conversation followed by an awkward goodbye. I thought he didn't like me, but he texted me 20 minutes later and we continued texting and trying to date at least once a month until he finally asked me to be his girlfriend. Less than a week later, Covid shut the world down. This flight attendant found herself homeless while everyone went into a quarantined lockdown but without hesitation, Tyler welcomed me into his home. We spent the weirdest time in our history on a fast track to getting to know each other and falling in love! A true romcom at its best...

A yearly international trip has always been our goal. Early 2022, we planned a trip to Malta and canceled it. A few months later, we replanned it and then had to cancel it AGAIN. So, we ended up at the departures board and spun the travel roulette wheel. Venice, Italy or Croatia, in a town called Split? Those were the only planes with seats for us and Tyler pressed hard for Venice. While I got us seats on the plane, he booked a romantic room with a view of the canals. Little did I know what Tyler was hiding in his backpack for days and the reason he refused vacation in a place called "split." On our first day of exploring Venice, I complained that Tyler takes terrible photos of me, so I forced him to watch a TikTok about how to pose for photos on vacation and how to train your man to take them. On our way to dinner, walking past San Marco square, I asked Tyler to take a few pictures of me on a gondola dock. We laughed at how ridiculous it felt and after a few embarrassing attempts, Tyler walked toward me, pulled me in and said, "Kiki, I just want you to know how happy I am, and I love you so much! I want to do this forever with you! (bent down on one knee) Will you marry me?" I was completely surprised by the entire moment because our many canceled plans made me think a proposal wasn't on his mind. My eyes filled with so many happy tears that I couldn't even see the beautiful ring and I think I said "YES" before he even finished asking the question and then Tyler put the ring back in his pocket before realizing he should see if the ring fit. The restaurant in the square was filled with cheering people and our perfectly flustered moment was captured by fateful passersby: the wife of NFL coach Andy Reid who sported a fat Superbowl ring and her two friends from Orange County. It was a perfect moment. Tyler crushed it! *see video above